


Happier times in another world

by mendystar1



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Boss/Employee Relationship, Crack, Drunken Confessions, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Temporary Amnesia, i really have no idea what to call these things, they are literally just shorts, wedding au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-22
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-26 13:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2654246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mendystar1/pseuds/mendystar1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically ficlets I've written on my tumblr when I suddenly got myself popular thanks to ericaismeg.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. courting before the case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time I've written a Berica fic.  
> For @FoxErica aka ericaismeg who requested it. The one who made me fall in love with Berica in the first place and just made me fall more and more as I kept reading.
> 
> 49\. boss/intern au

Erica had gotten a job at Hale + Boyd Inc., through her best friend Stiles Stilinski. The nightmare of an intern that pissed off Derek Hale, one of the partners of the firm and Stiles’ boss, to no end. Though he got the job done right and it’s the only reason he’s not fired yet.

When Boyd saw how great Derek was doing with an intern, he decided to get an intern for himself and that’s where Erica came in. When Erica came in for an interview, she thought she knew what to expect. Stiles had described Boyd as someone who was insanely kind (‘He helped me organize files Erica! Who helps organize files for fun?!’) and had a presence that was, in Stiles’ words, ‘powerful and intense like the quiet before the storm.’ So yes, Erica went into that interview knowing fully well who Vernon Boyd was and was prepared to amaze him with her fierce personality, but when she stepped into that room and felt his eyes staring back into hers, she was frozen on the spot.

"Hi."

One word from his mouth. Just one word and all of her thoughts disappeared from her mind and was wiped clean. She felt like she was in high school again. Like some love-struck teenager.

Thankfully she gathered enough of her wits to land her the job, (Thank goodness) and now she has to work at close proximity to this god-like figure.

Thankfully her best friend is there to anchor her. Sometimes.

“Erriiiiccccaaaaaaa.” Stiles whined, draping himself over her desk and messing up her organized piles of paperwork. Erica tsked at the antics of her best friend.

“What do you want Stilinski because I can’t deal with you right now.” Erica asked, not looking away from her computer screen as she quickly typed out the case file for the next meeting. “I have to get stuff ready for Boyd.”

“Oh yeah, the Lahey case right?” Stiles asked and Erica nodded. The Lahey case was getting everyone at the office stressed out. Especially since most of them knew the kid. 

"Yes. So leave me alone and go bother your sexy boss." Erica teased with a grin. 

Stiles blushed and spat back. “Hey. If we’re talking about my love life, let’s talk about your sexy boss too.”

"If that’s what you want, let me just call Lydia and tell her all about your crush." Erica replied to his tease, bringing out her cell.

Stiles’ mouth dropped open. “You wouldn’t dare.”

"Try me Batman." She grinned, her finger ready to press the call button.

"Is that a challenge Catwoman?" Stiles replied back, eyes staring back at hers. Erica turned her chair to face him and lifted one eyebrow to silently answer his challenge.

"This is one intense eye staring competition."

Erica turned to find Boyd. Her boss. Looking deliciously handsome as always.

"Boyd."

"Erica."

"Boyd. You should keep a closer eye on this one." Stiles pointed to Erica. "She tends to lash out."

"Stiles!" Erica blurted out.

"What?" Stiles asked innocently at Erica before giving a small laugh. "Fine. I can tell when I’m not wanted."

When Stiles was out of earshot, Erica turned to Boyd. “Sorry about that. There is no way of controlling that boy.”

"I know. He was here longer than you."

"Right." Erica replied, absently tapping her desk. "Are you here for the files? I’m almost done. Just give me half an hour."

Boyd shook his head, his face wearing a small smile. “I just wanted to see you.”

"Oh?" Erica asked, feeling heat gathering to her cheeks.

"Yeah." Boyd replied, still wearing that smile. "I was having a bad day but I knew once I looked at you, I’ll feel better."

"And why is that?"

"Because you’re breathtaking beautiful and I can’t help but notice that ever time I see you, I feel happier."

"Ah." Erica replied back without thought. Yup, her cheeks were really burning now. "Well, that is one hell of a line Boyd. Is that what you tell all the ladies?" She teased because there is one thing that is true with Erica, when the nerves appeared, she hid it behind teasing tones.

"Nope. Only to ladies named Erica Reyes."

Erica paused, her finger to her chin pretending to think.

"Maybe you should ask this Miss. Erica Reyes out."

"Maybe I should." Boyd replied. "Do you think she would say yes?" He asked, his head tilted curiously.

Erica bit her lip.

"I think she would say yes to anything if it’s from you."

Boyd gave her a smile so bright, Erica was tempted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

"Well. Erica Reyes. Will you do me the honor of having a coffee with me later this evening?"

"I will be honored to." Erica smiled before giving a exaggerated gasp. "But oh no, boss’ orders. I have to stay late to finish up these files."

Boyd gave out a laugh. “I’m sure your boss would gladly give it to Stilinski over there since he has enough time to spy at us.” Boyd’s head gestured to Stiles’ direction.

Erica quickly turned to see Stiles looking like a startled deer. Stiles gave out a hesitant wave. She grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Turning back to Boyd, she gave out a exaggerated sigh.

"Ahh. A boss helping me get petty revenge on my best friend. A man after my own heart."

"Should I be jealous?" Boyd teased.

"Why Boyd, didn’t you know?" Erica fake whispered and confessed. "I’ve been crushing on my boss since the first time I laid eyes on him."

"Oh really? I guess I have to get rid of the competition."

"No need. They all backed out when you entered the room."

They shared a smile. Boyd reached out to grab a pen and a scrap piece of paper from her desk.

"I’m going to head out to meeting with Derek so why don’t you give me a call on my personal cell and we’ll have that date." Boyd scrawled out his number.

"Okay. See you then."

"Good bye Miss. Reyes."

"Good bye Mr. Boyd."


	2. when two collide and memories are made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by booksaremylover on tumblr.
> 
> 22\. two miserable people meeting at a wedding au - Sterek

It was Stiles’ best friend’s wedding and Stiles was feeling miserable. It’s been two weeks since Lydia Martin, the love of his life, had  told him that it was all a mistake and broken up with him to go back with her dickwad of a boyfriend, Jackson Whittmore. Stiles thought he could just disappear into the nether and never see their existence but Lydia was best friends with Allison Argent, the wifey-to-be and therefore, could not be avoided at the wedding since Stiles was the best man and Lydia was the bridesmaid.

Not that it stopped Stiles from trying anyway.

So Stiles hid behind crowds of people, (who were these people anyway) avoiding the smirk on Jackson’s face when he bumped into something solid. 

"Hey. Watch where you’re going." The wall spoke.

"Well this was my hiding corner so maybe you should go somewhe-" Stiles looked up and stopped talking when he saw the most lightest green eyes he has ever seen. It was like the color of sea foam. Not that Stiles has ever seen sea foam but he has explored the world through google maps. He knows what he’s talking about. 

Attached to those eyes was the most handsome man he has ever seen. A beautiful man that was scowling at him.

Stiles coughed.

"Sorry man. I was avoiding an ex."

The man scowled at him.

"You too?"

"What?" Stiles replied back, startled at the man’s deep voice. "You got an ex lurking at this wedding too?"

"Yeah."

"Dude." Stiles said sympathetically and patted the man’s shoulder. The same shoulder he had ran into. "Let’s go to the free bar and drink to our misery."

The man continued to scowl at him. Stiles looked back, shrugging his shoulders. The man sighed.

"Don’t call me dude."

——  _a little while later_  ——

"And she said she wanted to break up, because, drum roll please." Stiles paused and Derek (he introduced himself after 4 shots) did the drum roll with two knives. "She said it was a mistake." Stiles said, taking another shot. "Like who does that? Who just packs up all their things without a word and leaves a note saying to meet them at a coffee shop, the same coffee shop where we first met by the way, to give them a detailed summary of their failed relationship?" Stiles ranted, taking one shot after the other.

"At least your ex isn’t smugly laughing at you and now dating your creepy ass uncle." Derek replied, a hint of sadness and anger in his voice.

"Dude." Stiles handed him a shot. Derek raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but took the shot without a word and drank it in one go. "That is wrong on so many levels."

"Right? And I have to see them both tonight because she’s related to the bride."

"To Allison?" Stiles asked. mentally going through Allison’s relatives but coming up with nothing. The alcohol was getting to him. "Who’s your ex?"

"Kate. Kate Argent."

"No way." Stiles yelled out, spinning to face Derek. He almost lost his balance but Derek caught him. "Thanks. But seriously, that woman? Gave me the creeps the first time I met her."

Derek grunted, taking another shot.

"It’s okay man. I’m sure you’ll find someone less insane. You’re hot as the sun so you’ll have no trouble there." Stiles patted Derek’s shoulder. "Me though? I’m going to be single for a long while."

"No you’re not."

"Yes I am. Have you seen me?" Stiles gestured to himself. Or what he thinks is himself. Can he fully control his arms right now? No, that was his leg. Everything is really floaty. "I’m all skinny and pale skin. No one wants a piece of this."

"If they don’t know what they’re missing. It’s their loss."

"Dude." Stiles patted Derek’s thigh. Hopefully it’s his leg. Who’s smart idea was it to drink this many shots again? Oh right. Stiles. "That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Too bad you’re straight or I would totally climb you like a tree right now."

Derek looked at him, hand hovering at the next shot. “Straight? I’m bi.”

"What?" Stiles asked, his head resting on the table. God, he could really use a drink right now. And maybe less music. A lot less music. It’s hurting his brain too much. Brain.

"I like guys."

"Good for you dude. Me too." Stiles replied back absently, rubbing his face to the marble table counter.

"No Stiles." Derek said, stepping closer to Stiles.

"Shh." Stiles reached out to stop the voice from talking. Why is anyone talking. It’s sleep time.

"I like you." The voice whispered in his ear.

"I like you too. In fact, if I wasn’t super drunk right now, I would ask you on a date and ravish you." Stiles muttered. His face breaking into a grin.

Derek sighed. “You’re totally wasted right now, aren’t you?”

"Yup."

"I’m going to take you home okay?"

"To ravish me?"

"No. So you can sleep it off." There was a pause, shuffling of feet. "Who do I let know you’re leaving?"

"Scott."

"Okay." Hands gently stroking his back. "Stay here okay? I’ll be back."

"Hmm." Stiles replied, eyes drooping. Stiles fell asleep that night with a smile on his face for the first time in days. On the edge of sleep, he could feel that happy bubbling in his stomach whenever he falls in love in the insane way he does. Hard and fast.

In the first month of dating, Derek would constantly embarrass Stiles by telling this story of two miserable people at a wedding confessing to one another after one of them getting crazy drunk.

It was the same story Stiles told on their wedding day when he gave out his vows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one time I write something super cute, and it becomes the one that everyone ends up liking. Ha. :)


	3. the anticipated reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by thefireisnotalive on tumblr.
> 
> 48\. meeting again at a high school reunion au - Sterek

Stiles shook out his nerves as he stood at the entrance of the structure that was easily the best and worst years of his life.

"Okay Stiles. You can do this. You’ve been waiting ten years for this day to ask Derek Hale out." Stiles muttered to himself. "And you’re going to do it even if you’re going to cry about it later." Stiles finished and nodded to himself. A hand slapped his back. Stiles turned around and saw his best friend, Scott McCall.

"You’re giving yourself the pep-talk?" Scott asked.

"Yeah." Stiles answered. "Okay, you remember your promise right?"

"Yes. Don’t let you chicken out like last time."

"Good. Because this will probably my only chance of happiness."

Scott rolled his eyes and playfully punched Stiles’ shoulder.

"Come on Scott, let’s go be teenagers again."

And they entered the doors.

——-

Back in the high school days, Stiles was obsessed with two things. Getting Coach Finstock to mark his male circumcision essay for economics and Derek Hale. Derek Hale was known in high school as the classic nerd. He was constantly in the library, studying or reading a book. Whenever he ate lunch, it was with his sisters and their friends. No matter what Stiles’ friends said about Derek, his eyes followed him everywhere. It all started when Stiles was in the library and saw the most beautiful thing that ever existed. Derek smiling.

Yup. That’s the day that Stiles fell hard and fast and crushed from afar, like he did with all his crushes. Because Stiles was a skinny kid that was only good for sarcastic remarks.

But that’s going to change.

Stiles is now head of his own website design company, partnered with high school buddy, Danny. He’s had boyfriends and girlfriends from across the globe when he travelled with Lydia Martin on her business trips. He can dominate the room and make old men quiver at his feet. He could totally ask his high school crush out.

Right?

Stiles scanned the room, no sign of his crush yet. He sighed.

"Do you think he’s even coming Scotty?"

"It’s only been half an hour Stiles. Maybe he’s running late."

"I hope so." Stiles twisted his hands. "I’m starting to lose my confidence with every second that ticks by."

"Stiles. He’ll be here. You’ll ask him and you’ll live happily every after with five adopted kids."

"Five Scott? Like I could even handle f-" Stiles stopped mid-sentence when his eyes caught the sight of the most beautiful man he has ever seen. "Scott." Stiles whispered. "Scotty." Stiles punched him.

"Hey!"

"Who’s that over there." Stiles gestured to the angel that probably descended from the heavens or something. No, not an angel. Probably a living Greek god.

"I"ll go check."

"Thanks buddy." Stiles called out as his friend quickly stepped into the side of the room the man was in. As he waited, Stiles entertained himself by organizing the cups of punch by volume levels. 

"It’s Derek."

"What?" Stiles cried out, dropping the cup he was holding. "Where?" His gaze panned around the room, searching.

"The dude you asked me to scope. It’s Derek."

"No." Stiles’ eyes widened. "No. No. No." He repeated, holding his head in his hands.

"Stiles?" Scott asked, a bit worried.

"Are you kidding me? He got insanely hot. More hot than he was before! I can eve- He’s not even in the same realm. The same universe. Is universe bigger than realm? What’s bigger than realm?"

"Stiles. You’re blabbing."

"Scott. He’s never going to say yes to me. Look at him and look at me. We’re in two different worlds." Stiles sunk down to the floor. "Why didn’t I just ask him in high school. God!" Stiles muttered into his chest.

Scott looked at his best friend at a loss of what to do. “Stiles.”

Scott nudged him with his foot when he didn’t answer. "Stiles. You know what Lydia would say if she was here instead of in Paris?"

"Telling me that I’m right and that we should go rent The Notebook and eat ice cream?" Stiles asked.

"No. She would drag you across the room to ask Derek Hale the question you wanted to ask for 10 years now."

"What kind of question is it that Stiles had to wait 10 years to ask me?"

Stiles looked up horrified. Standing in front of him was Derek. 

"Holy shit, you’re even more gorgeous up close." Stiles said, still in shock at Derek’s overall presence. "Wait, I mean, shit. Fuck."

"Thanks." Derek gave him a grin. 

Now that was even more breath-taking than Stiles remembered.

"Holy shit, Scott. I think I might faint right now." Stiles said absently, his hands randomly trying to reach one of his best friend’s limbs with no luck. The smile over loading his senses and his brain function. No one should have a smile that powerful. 

Derek’s face somehow turned cuter when he looked at Stiles with worry. He turned to Scott and asked, “Is Stiles okay?”

"Yeah, he’s fine. He just wanted to ask you out since high school and he’s freaking out because you’re all, in his words, ‘insanely hot, more than you were before.’"

"Oh." Derek replied, looking back at Stiles. 

Yup, Stiles might be having a slight panic attack. No, not a panic attack. Maybe he’s stuck in some kind of never-ending nightmare. Yeah, that seems better. A never-ending nightmare that he probably never wake up from and needed a hangover, a couple of buckets of ice cream and a trip to Rome to cure. Wait, not Rome, maybe London.

"Well, thanks for that buddy. I’m going to walk out of those doors now and go hang myself." Stiles said, turning away. Stiles felt a hand on his wrist pulling him back.

"You wanted to ask me out in high school?" Derek looked at him, his eyes seeming to pierce into the core of Stiles’ soul. As if he’ll be able to see everything in his heart if he just looked hard enough.

"Yeah." Stiles confessed, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Why didn’t you?" 

Stiles looked at Derek and replied with a sigh.

"Because you were hot and insanely smart and totally out of my league."

"Stiles." Derek gripped Stiles’ shoulders. "You were the one out my league."

Stiles gasped at him. Stiles out of Derek’s league? What the heck is this nightmare going at? Stiles looked around, ready to see if Jackson was ready to pop out of nowhere and scream out ‘you’ve been punked.’ As if Derek knew what Stiles was thinking, he sighed.

"You were funny, popular and everyone loved you. I thought I didn’t stand a chance with you."

"Dude. I spent four years in high school watching you creepily in the library. I think everyone knew I liked you."

"Not everyone."

Stiles looked at Derek’s hands, which was still resting on his shoulders. He looked back at Derek’s face.

"So you’re saying that we could have been dating a long time ago?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Stiles nodded and feeling courageous, blurted out. "Kiss me then."

Derek smiled.

"Gladly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no idea what people do at high reunions so I kind of guessed.


	4. drunken confessions and infatuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by dereks-batman on tumblr.
> 
> 7\. fake relationship au - Sterek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had quite a lot of trouble with this. I really had no idea how I was going to make them into a fake relationship.

“Stillllesssssss.” Erica whined, pulling his wrist unsuccessfully into the entrance of the dance club, Wolf’s Moon. Their favorite club that they’ve been going to since they first met in uni. Erica is strong when she wants something but Stiles could be stubborn if he wanted to, which he is right now. He’s also using the wall as support but details, schmetails.

“Erriiicccaa.” Stiles whined back. “I got finals! You got finals! We should be slowly dying on our way to hell right now!” Stiles shouted, his other hand was slowly losing grip of the corner of the wall. Erica is winning this intense tug of war and her grip is rubbing at his wrist. The rubbing was turning into some sick version of Indian sunburn right now. Ow.

“But this way we could slowly dance our way down to hell.” Erica pouted, dropping Stiles’ arm. Stiles gently poked at it with a wince. “And you promised me that you would be my wing-man for the sexy bartender!”

“Oh right. The one you call your “one true sex god that practically came to life from your wet dreams” right?” Stiles teased. Erica punched him. “Does it have to be tonight though?”

“Yes! He told me last time that he’s going to be switching jobs at the club so it would be the only time left that I could casually flirt and he can’t run away since he’s stuck behind the counter!”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Stop being so dramatic, I’m sure the guy likes you. If not, he has no idea what he’s missing.”

Erica laughed. “You are way too sweet to me Stiles. Too bad you’re like a brother to me or I would have totally slept with you.”

“Erica. I am so flattered to hear that.” Stiles replied with a bow. Looking at her puppy dog eyes, he sighed and gave in. “Fine. I should have never introduced you to Scott. You guys are terrible. Let’s get this over with yeah?”

“Yes!” Erica yelled out. “Finally!”

Stiles couldn’t help but smile at Erica’s enthusiasm. He couldn’t help but fiercely want Erica to always have a smile on her face.

Once Stiles entered the club and saw Lydia Martin, that was a whole other story.

“Erica.”

“What.”

“She’s here.”

“ _She’s here?”_

“Yeah.”

“With her  _shit_ boyfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit.”

“No kidding.”

Erica turned to look at him, her eyes serious. “If you want to back out, you can. I won’t hold you on your promise.”

“No.” Stiles shook his head. “I promised you to do this and it’s not like she could break my heart all over again right?”

Erica and Stiles both winced. Stiles had broken up with Lydia Martin two years ago. Well, Lydia broke up with Stiles two years ago and it took Stiles over a year and a half to stop getting depressed at every little thing that reminded him of her. Like the color strawberry-blonde or whenever he passed Forever 21. He always got weird looks from teenage girls whenever he cried in front of Forever 21. Forever 21 was the first place Lydia dragged him shopping okay? Dresses don’t make him depressed. Maybe.

“Why don’t we sit at the bar and we can both talk loudly about how sexy I look tonight okay?” Erica asked, softly hold his hand.

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

“Good.”

—

After a couple of drinks, Stiles was drinking by himself. Erica had somehow convinced Boyd, her sexy bartender, to dance with her during his break. Stiles silently watched them, drinking more alcohol and just rambling his depressing love life to the other bartender whose bright green eyes seemed to glow in the dim-lit room.

“And it’s crazy right? To still be in love with someone who broke your heart so long ago?” Stiles asked, and continued without a pause. “But I can’t help it. It’s who I am. I fall hard and fast for people I can never have and once I have them, I fall even more in love but they never feel the same.” Stiles ranted, taking another glass and drowning it in one go. “Am I just too clingy? Do I seem clingy to you? Oh god, I”m clingy.” Stiles asked.

The green eyed bartender looked over at him, cleaning Stiles’ previous glass. “I think you’re too much of a romantic for them. Maybe you should find someone who sees love like you do.”

Stiles nodded. “That makes sense but it’s so hard, you know? Like that’s the kind of conversation starter you talk about on the first date. Right. Like that wouldn’t scare them off. Well, it’s not like I’ve had a first date since Lydia.” Stiles sighed, gulping down another drink.

The bartender quietly laughed. “Not the first date, no. But I think you can tell from the little hints. All you have to do is pay attention enough.” The bartender placed the now clean glass on the back counter. “And don’t worry, if this Lydia ever appears out of nowhere, I’ll help you get petty revenge.” Derek gave a small smile and went to the other side of the bar to serve other customers.

“You probably say that to all your drunken customers.” Stiles yelled out and winced when his voice rang in his ear. He rested his head on the counter and closed his eyes a little. Stiles should really stop drinking his sadness away. It’s starting to become a problem.

“Stiles?” A familiar voice called out to him. “Is that you?”

Stiles slowly opened his eyes and saw himself looking into familiar striking hazel eyes.

“Lydia.” Stiles whispered, stunned by how beautiful she looked.

“Stilinski.” The voice broke into Stiles’ serene mood. “You looked like you’ve been dumped or something.” Stiles glared at the other voice. Jackass.

“Jackson.” Stiles said without a hint of any emotion. “I look this horrible because I had this psychic feeling that I had to see your face and that just ruined my entire day.” Stiles spat out, his anger spilling out.

“Are these people bothering you Stiles?” Stiles turned to see the bartender he’s been ranting at coming back. Stiles gave him a small smile.

“It’s all good dude.” Stiles patting the table. “Oh. This is Lydia and that’s Jackass. I mean Jackson.” Stiles gave Jackson a fake grimace. “Sorry. I always mix those two up.”

“Shut it Stilinski.” Jackson growled, tightening his grip on Lydia’s shoulder. Lydia shoved his hand off.

“Lydia?” The bartender repeated before he recognizing the name that Stiles had been crying over for the past hour. “Oh. It’s very nice to meet you.” The bartender looked at her. “Stiles told me a lot about you.”

“Oh really? And who are you exactly?” Lydia asked, a calculating look in her eyes as she looked him over.

“I’m Derek.” The bartender replied and looked over to Stiles. “I’m Stiles’ boyfriend.”  Stiles looks at the bartender, no, Derek, in shock. Boyfriend? Derek winked at him. “Let me just get Isaac to cover for me.” Derek said, looking at Jackson who was stunned and Lydia who was also stunned but hiding it under her the mask she perfected over the years. “Isaac! Cover for me.”

"Fine!" A voice answered from the back.

Derek walked around the counter to stand next to Stiles with a grin. He wrapped his arms around Stiles’ waist and whispered in his ear, “Let’s get that petty revenge.”

Stiles looked at Derek with a wide grin. “Oh, you’re on.”

"So." Lydia’s voice startling Stiles. He almost forgot they were there. "How did you two meet."

"Stiles always come to the bar with Erica. We started chatting and here we are." Derek replied, his beard lightly scratching Stiles’ cheek.

"How the heck did Stiles get you?" Jackson spat out. "Are you dating him for a bet?"

Stiles could feel dread flowing through him as Jackson’s words pierced him. It was kinda true. He would never be able to get someone like Derek if they weren’t faking it.

Derek, feeling Stiles’ body slightly shaking in his arms as if he was going to break down and cry, looked over at Jackson. “Stiles didn’t get me. I got him. Clearly you have no idea how amazing and wonderful Stiles is. You’ve also been a jackass to Stiles all night so why don’t you get the fuck out before I get you banned permanently.” Derek growled, hands tightening around Stiles’ waist.

"You can’t do that." Jackson yelled out.

"The fuck I can." Derek yelled back. " Boyd!”

"Yes boss?"

"Wait, boss?" Stiles said, looking at Derek who still had a tightening grip on him.

"Get this piece of shit out of my sight and put him on the blacklist. We don’t want him here." Derek ordered, gesturing to Jackson. Lydia stood by saying nothing, her anger reflected in her eyes as she glared at Jackson.

"Sure." Boyd answered, slowly nudging Jackson and an angry Lydia out of the bar.

Stiles wiggled out of Derek’s grip to look at him. “Thanks for that.”

"No problem. He was a dick anyway."

"No." Stiles shook his head, looking down at the ground. "Thanks for the, you know, pretending to be my boyfriend. I know it would be shitty to be my boyfriend anyway."

"Stiles." Derek said before lightly touching Stiles’ face to force him to look at him. "I would be happy if I was your boyfriend. You give your heart out expecting nothing in return. How could anyone not love someone like that."

Stiles looked at him, frowning. His hands gripped Derek’s forearms,  (Forearms? They were like bricks) to stop the room from spinning so much. “Okay. So I’m drunk. Like super drunk and usually I’m way smarter than this but are you saying that if I asked you out if I was way sober that you would totally say yes to a coffee date. With me? After I told you my entire depressing love life and had you fake a relationship with me so I could be less pathetic?”

"You’re not pathetic, and I chose to be in that fake-relationship." Derek replied. "And yes. I would say yes to that coffee date. A coffee date with a very sober Stiles."

"Oh sweet." Stiles absently replied, feeling the sleep crawling in. "Well, I’m going to pass out now so if you could hail me a cab, your phone number and an Erica, that would be nice."

"Sure." 

And that was the last thing Stiles heard that night.

——

Stiles woke up the next morning in his room with a massive headache. He winced. He should really stop drinking. Bringing his arm up to cover his eyes from the sun creeping in from the windows, he saw a flash of black.

Bringing his arm out in front of him, he saw a phone number scrawled in permanent marker and the message underneath it:

_I’ll be waiting for our second date - Derek._   


Stiles grinned. 


	5. the rainbow-sprinkled, cheese covered hot dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For dereks-batman who requested four prompts but I only gave her three. This is the second of the three.
> 
> 24\. literally bumping into each other au - Sterek

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to have fun with it, I let my sister take the reins on this one. So it kind of turned into a crack fic. I tried to savage it but... oh god.  
> I kinda laughed so hard reading it that I couldn't breathe.
> 
>  

Stiles realized he was heading the wrong direction when the restaurant that supposedly served ‘the best curly fries in the area’ was nowhere to be seen and all he saw was grass, trees and a lonesome hot dog stand that sat in the middle of the park. He muttered to himself, “Screw it, I’m late already. I might as well eat some good shit.”

As Stiles was well into his third hot dog, he thought to himself, ‘ _God, I made a mistake, this tastes even worse than shit_.’ He cringed. He looked down at the containers of condiments at the stand. There was the usual ketchup, mustard, onions and there were weird ones like cheese and rainbow sprinkles. Stiles, not one to shy away from the challenge of trying new things, squirted a bunch of cheese into his shitty hot dog bun and sprinkled rainbow sprinkles because why the hell not. Once he finished his task, he looked down at his horrible creation and took a bite. God, he regrets everything but he took another bite anyway. Maybe it gets better as you get used to it. He also didn’t have enough time to go buy another lunch so he just suffered through it. Stiles looked over to see a man standing underneath the shade of a willow tree, looking off into the distance like he was some model of a magazine. Stiles began playing that game where you make an entire life story about the strangers you see to keep his mind off his horrible decision of eating this hot dog.

_‘The man seemed to be one with the wondrous nature around him, like maybe he thinking how life would be great if he was a willow tree. Because water, carbon dioxide and sunlight, this place just has an abundance of it.’_

_‘Except for the water part because we’re running out like helllllllllllllll’_ Stiles’ mind supplied. He took another bite of the hot dog, cringing once more at the taste. It is not getting better, Stiles should just stop lying to himself. He sighed staring at the grassy plain in front of him. _‘I want to be one like nature… ‘_

You can tell that finals were kind of making Stiles go crazy.

As Stiles was creating this idea of some philosophical stranger who was in love with nature, Derek, the philosophical stranger that Stiles was profiling, was doing the same thing.

Except Derek thinks Stiles is an idiot.

Derek had noticed a kid had bought a hot dog from the worst hot dog stand in the city.‘ _What an idiot._ ’ Derek thought to himself as the boy bought another shitty hot dog and putting cheese all over as if it would mask the horrible taste. The boy then looks at the container that for some reason holds rainbow coloured sprinkles. The kid gives a small shrug, as if saying to himself, ‘ _why the fuck not_ ’ and showers his hot dog in it. Derek grimaces and turns his focus to the nature surrounding him to erase that horrible life choice he just witnessed from his brain.

—- _back to Stiles_ ———

 _TOOT_.

Stiles looks down at his flip-phone (he still has one because he just loves flipping it , even though it’s super slow with the apps) and sees a text from Scott. Opening it up, he sees the words ‘cookies’ and ‘free’ and he finds his hot dog covered in rainbow sprinkles on the ground. He must have thrown it down like a football during touchdown in his excitement.

Stiles starts running in the direction of the educational centre of oblivion, flip-phone in his rainbow sprinkled-cheese covered hand, slowly texting back to Scott to ‘get him those damn cookies, damn it’ when his phone goes flying out of his butterfingers as he bumps into the model nature guy he was staring at before. Stiles looks down at his hands, which somehow found itself gripping the tree guy’s shirt with the crazy strength of a Nokia phone. He starts to pry his fingers away from the dude’s chest when he sees the rainbow sparkles and cheese that were all over his fingers, all over the crazy expensive lookin’ shirt worn by the incredibly symmetrical nature-fanatic model dude.

And the only thought that was going around in Stiles brain was, _‘Shit. Now I’m never going to get those cookies_.’

——— _back to Derek——-_

‘ _What_. _The. Fuck_.’ Derek’s mind screamed as he stood in shock at the hot dog guy. He looked down at his shirt that’s now covered in the disgusting rainbow sprinkles, cringing before remembering that he had to go to a meeting later with Cora, who is  going to kill him. Not kill him, maybe flay him alive and then drop him in the deepest part of the ocean where the salt water will find it’s way into every single crack that exists in his body.

Stiles stared as the man just looked at his expensive shirt in horror. “Oh god, can I buy you a hot dog? I mean, wait no, terrible idea. Maybe a cookie? To pay you back for all this trouble. I could even clean your shirt for you. I have a tide clean marker in my bag somewhere, just wait a sec.” Stiles frantically pulled open his backpack, a pen flying from one of the pockets as he dug into it.

“I don’t think you can get it clean in time for my meeting which is in…” Derek looks down at his watch. “…about 8 minutes.”

“Just one sec, and you would be amazed at my tide cleaning skills. I am like a cleaning god with this marker. So don’t worry. I got this dude.”

“Don’t call me dude.” Derek glared.

"I’m trying to do you a solid."

"You’re the reason why I’m in this mess."

"Maybe if you weren’t some tree-loving nature guy, you wouldn’t be in this empty park anyway. Who hangs out at a park in autumn anyway?"

Derek stared at the boy who was still digging into his bag.

"I’m not a ‘tree-loving nature guy’ and I don’t have to explain myself to you. Keep your tide marker. I’ll just go buy myself a new shirt." Derek growled out, walking away from the whirlwind that is Stiles.

"But wait, what about your cookie?" Stiles yelled out but Derek paid no attention, and kept walking.

——— _—-_

That was the first meeting between Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale. It was only 3 months later when Stiles and Derek met again at Mama’s Bakery.

"Oh hey Derek, here for Boyd’s order?" Erica called out.

"Yes."

"Okay. I’ll just go in the back and grab it." Erica said and leaned over the side counter to yell out, "Yo Stiles!" 

The boy who sat by the front window, turned to face her in shock. “Yes my queen?”

"Watch the cash and make sure no one steals it."

"Your wish is my command." The boy bows and makes his way behind the counter and that’s when he noticed Derek standing there.

"You’re the-"

"The rainbow sprinkles hot dog guy."

"HEY!" Stiles yelled out. "That was a horrible life decision that still haunts me to this day. Don’t bring back the nightmares."

"Maybe it’ll make you learn never buy a hot dog from that stand ever again."

"I never could eat a hot dog without remembering that experience." Stiles shuddered.

"I wouldn’t imagine you would. I was cringing watching you put those sprinkles all over the cheese."

"Oh god, please stop." Stiles yelled out, covering his ears. 

Derek gave him a grin in response. “Rainb-“

"Okay, okay. I give!" Stiles shouts. "Hey. Don’t I owe you a cookie?"

Derek looks at Stiles, contemplating on the offer. “As long as it’s not covered in cheese.”

"I already told you to stop. Maybe I should retract my promise. Maybe I should eat this wonderful cookie myself."

"No." Derek grabbed the cookie from Stiles’ grip. "It’s mine."

Stiles grinned. “It totally is.”

—-

And if Derek ever spoke of the ‘the-day-that-should-never-be-named,’ Stiles would shower him with cookies to get him to shut up.

And if Stiles later told anyone willing to listen that the day they first met was at Mama’s Bakery, Derek never told anyone else otherwise.


	6. waking up with thoughts of you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @dereks-batman's third request of the Sterek AU series.
> 
> 18\. waking up with amnesia au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this as my sister was typing out the hotdog/bumping into each other AU. I just finished it instead of doing school work. Hopefully it's good because I didn't exactly read over it under my stress.

The boy woke up to the sound of beeps. 

_‘One beep._

_Two beeps._

_Three beeps._

_Four.’_

He opened his eyes, and found himself staring at a white ceiling. 

_‘This isn’t my room.’_

The thought dropped and vanished before he could ponder on it. He looked down at himself.

He was covered in a baby blue blanket that kind of itched and his arm was hooked to the machine that was making the beeping sound.

‘ _A heart monitor.’_  His mind supplied. He tried to shift his arm but was stopped by a slight pain emitting from his elbow.

‘ _IV drip.’_  He stared at the needle embedded in his arm before gently placing his arm by his side.

‘ _Where am I?’_ The boy asked himself.

‘ _Hospital.’_ His mind answered.

‘ _Why am I at the hospital?’_

His mind remained blank.

The boy closed his eyes, trying to call on the memories. All he got was empty black.

A shuffling noise startled the boy from his thinking. He opened his eyes and stared in the direction of the sound. A man stood at the doorway. The man looked like he hasn’t slept for days with a full-on beard looking awfully out of place, but what really captured the boy’s attention was the man’s light green eyes that seemed to glisten in the lights that lit the room.

‘ _Your eyes are stunning.’_

_‘Really?’ A low laugh echoed. ‘So green eyes do it for you?’_

_‘No, not green.’ Stiles thought to himself._  ‘ _The color of sea foam.’_

The man stood there silently, his hands gripping the doorway and looking at him nervously as if he didn’t know if he was allowed in the room or not.

The boy smiled at the man a bit, hoping his face didn’t look particularly threatening.

“You can come in you know,” The boy said out loud, his voice scratchy from days of non-use. “Can you pour me some water?” He asked, gesturing with his hands to make a pouring motion.

The man nodded, slowly making his way by the boy’s side where a pitcher of water sat. Pouring the water into a cup, he placed the cup in the boy’s hands, careful not to make any contact.

“So Stiles. Do you know what happened to you?”

“Stiles..” The boy sounded out. It sounded familiar. “Is that my name?” When the boy said the question out loud, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. The man’s face broke into an expression that made the boy’s heart do funny things. As if it dropped down a well without any way to get it back and all he wanted was to make the man smile.

_‘A smile would look way better on you Sourwolf. Come on, let’s turn that frown upside down!’_

_Flashes of laughter._

“Yes. Stiles is your name.” The man answered, breaking the boy, no wait, Stiles from his thoughts. Stiles’ eyes lingered away from the man, not wanting to see the broken expression he put there and instead stared at the man’s hand that was resting at the edge of the bed. The man was wearing a ring. 

‘ _A wedding ring.’_ His mind supplied. He looked down at his own hand where there was no ring at all. ‘ _Maybe they’ve taken it off when they did an X-ray?’_ Stiles thought to himself, continuing to stare at the wedding ring and thought of the man’s broken expression. Placing the two ideas side by side, an idea came to mind,

‘ _Oh god. Is this my husband? How did I forget that?’_

Stiles pondered at the idea. How much did he forget? How much did he really remember? He tried to call upon some memories but all he got were flashes,

_‘Get out of the way!’_

_‘Scott, you’re my brother..’_

_‘Sarcasm is my only defense!’_

and a painful pain emitting from his head.

“Take it easy.” The man said softly. “The doctors say that you suffered a head injury and that you might have temporary amnesia.”

Stiles looked at the man, no, husband. “Did they say when the memories will come back?”

“No.” The man looked at him, a hopeful expression in his eyes. “How much do you remember? Do you know who I am?”

Stiles hesitated to answer, not wanting that funny feeling or that sad expression on his husband’s face to happen again.

“I remember…Scott. My best friend. We…” Stiles paused, a memory floating its way to the surface.

_‘Come on Stiles! We’re going to be late.’_

_‘You can’t be late to your own wedding Scott! It’s like a rule! How would the darn thing start without you?’_

_‘Well if you didn’t make that stop, we would have been here on time!’_

_‘Hey! You were the one who wanted to get flowers for your-wife-to-be. Though I don’t know why you want more flowers. The wedding is going to be filled with them.’_

_‘But these flowers are going to be just for Allison. Not just for the wedding.’_

_‘I never understood the idea of flowers nor will I ever Scott, so stop trying to explain it to me.’_

_Scott stopped at the doors of the chapel. Stiles looked at his friend who seemed to have frozen in fear._

_‘Scott?’_

_‘Stiles. What if, what if she changed her mind? What if she doesn’t want to be with me anymore?’ Scott asked, his eyes wide as he stared at the closed doors in front of him. Stiles placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder._

_‘You’re an idiot if you think she’s not going to say yes. Now get in there and get yourself married.’_

_‘Okay.’ Scott replied, his nerves calming before panicking once more. ‘Oh shit. Stiles. I forgot to get the ring!’_

_‘What?!’_

_‘I went to get in engraved but I forgot to pick it up!’_

_‘Okay.’ Stiles placed his hands on Scott’s shoulders, gripping them. ‘I’m going to go quickly grab them and you just stall the wedding a bit by saying really, really, long vows okay? Everything is going to be fine.’_

_‘Thanks buddy. You’re the best.’_

_‘I know I am’_

“I was… “ Stiles muttered, the memory fading. “I was in the car, heading to get Scott’s ring because the idiot forgot to pick it up. And there was a truck…”

‘ _Stiles, I’m freaking out.’ Scott’s voice drifted from the cell’s tiny speakers._

_‘It’s alright buddy. I got the ring and I’m almost there. Like 4 minutes. Tops.’_

_‘Alright.’_

_‘Yeah, just hang in there okay? You just stop worrying and everything is going to be ju-‘_

_CRASH_

_‘Stiles? What happened? Stiles. Answer me. Stiles? STILES!’_

“…It ran a red light and hit me…” Stiles finished, hand gripping his forehead. “How long have I been out?”

“8 days.”

“8 days… That must have been some wedding huh?” Stiles said with a slight chuckle. “God. Lydia might kill me for ruining that wedding. She planned so hard for it.”

“…You remember Lydia?”

“.That she’s a fiery strawberry blond that will one day take over the world? Yes. I do remember Lydia.” Stiles replied, the pain from his head receding. “So do you know when I can leave this place? Not too fond of hospitals.”

“I know. The doctors just need to do a few tests and then you can leave.”

“Cool.” Stiles replied. In the silence, he looked down at his hands and realized that one of them was entwined with his husband’s. It must have happened when he was experiencing the flashback. Stiles looked at the man, who was starting to look less heartbroken now that Stiles revealed that he’s slowly recovering his memories. “I’m sorry for all this.” Stiles whispered.

“Why are you sorry?”

“For making you worry..”

“Stiles.” The man said, using his other hand to cover Stiles’. “You always manage to make me worry.”

“Yeah. It must be such a pain to live with me, isn’t it?”

“Kind of. But you’re never never bored. Or so I hear.”

Stiles softly laughed, bringing the man’s hands close to his cheek. “Well, thanks for being here.”

The man looks back at Stiles’ startled before relaxing. “You never have to say thanks for that Stiles.”

“I have to express my thanks every once and while, don’t I? You’ll forget in the lifetime of me leaving random things everywhere and being a pain in the ass.” Stiles laughed, pressing a brief kiss on the man’s palm.

The man stilled.

“Stiles?”

“Yes?”

“Who do you think I am?”

“…My husband?”

The man looked at Stiles in shock before carefully extracting his hand from Stiles’ grip. “I’m not your husband Stiles.”

Stiles just looked at the man, confused at the confession. “If you’re not my husband, then why are you so worried about me? Like, really, really worried about me?”

“I’m one of your best friends. Besides Scott.” Stiles frowned. 

‘ _Derek.’_

“And the wedding ring?” Stiles asked.

“From my previous marriage with Paige.”

‘ _What happened to her?’_

_‘Paige?’_

_‘Yeah. If you don’t want to talk about it. You don’t have to.’_

_‘She died a long time ago. Car accident. She was my first love.’_

_Stiles studied Derek’s face, overloaded with sadness of his loss._

_‘I’m sorry. I would have loved to meet her.’_

_Derek looked at him with a sad smile._

_‘She would have loved you Stiles.’_

Stiles returned his gaze downward, his mind whirling. “Then why did my heart seem to break when you had that look on your face when you heard I forgot everything? Why do I feel like I have to do everything in my power, no matter how hard, just to make you smile?” Stiles questioned, his hands fisting the blanket. “Why is it the first memory I remember is me describing your eyes as the color of sea foam? That’s not best friend conversation!” 

‘ _Come on Derek! You gotta smile. You look too much like grumpy cat.’_

_‘Stiles. Stop.’_

_‘No. Not until you smile. Come on. I got $20 riding on this.’_

_‘That’s what you get for betting.’_

“This isn’t the feelings of a best friend. This is -“ Stiles yelled, the memories coming in fast flashes.

‘ _I don’t know why you two don’t just get it on already.’ Lydia said, flipping a strand of her hair over her shoulder. ‘You guys look at each other like you hung each other’s moon or something.’_

_‘It’s just that- he still loves her Lydia.’_

_‘And he loves you. He can love two people you know.’_

_‘But he’s still mourning for her. I don’t want to take that away from him. So I’m not going to tell him how I feel Lyds. Not after I seen his face talking about her. I don’t want to break this thing we have. I don’t want to be the reason why.’_

_Lydia gives him her look. The look. The one that says that he’s stupid but she loves him anyway._

_‘You’re going to look back at this and realize how much of an idiot you’re being, but I’ll honor it and won’t meddle.’ She replied. ‘Badly.’_

_‘Thanks Lyds. That’s all I ask.’_

_“_ Oh god. I can’t believe this is happening to me.” Stiles yelled out, the heart monitor machine’s beeping fiercely fast in the background. 

“Stiles. Calm down.” The man, no, Derek brought his arms up as if to sooth him. Even after that confession/misunderstanding from Stiles, Derek is still worried about him.

“No. Just- please. Just get out.” Stiles yelled, hands gripping his short strands of hair. “Please. I can’t” 

Melissa rushed in, pushing the man/non-husband/ _Derek_  out of the room and whispered to Stiles to calm him down.

“Shhh. Stiles. Breathe with me. Breathe. In. Out. That’s it. Shhh. There you go.” Melissa softly repeated until Stiles’ heart rate was back to normal. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

“I forgot. I.. temporary lost my memories and thought Derek was my husband and accidentally confessed my love to him.” The words rushing out of Stiles’ mouth. “Oh god. Oh god. Can you just put me in a coma and out of my misery?”

“Stiles!” Melissa snapped, slapping his arm. “Don’t joke about that. You just got out of    a coma!”

“Oh yes. Sorry.”

“Other than the embarrassment, how are you feeling?”

“Okay. The memories are slowly coming back. There are still bits and pieces missing. The headache is almost gone… Do you think I can head home now?” Stiles asked.

“Yes you can. We just need to recheck your vitals, and I can call someone other than Derek to drive you home.”

“Thanks Mrs. McCall. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Just don’t end up here again Stiles.”

“I’ll do my best.”

————

“So you’re telling me that you accidentally confessed your feelings for Derek, that you’ve been hiding for 4 years now, due to you thinking he was your husband after you temporary lost your memories.”

“Yes. How many times do I have to keep repeating the same story Erica?!” Stiles yelled out in frustration, a spoon of ice-cream waved in the air.

“I’m sorry. It’s like a storyline from those movies that Lydia forces us to watch. It’s so cliche.”

“Well, I’m happy that you find my life to be so mundane Erica. Now pass me that bowl of chips so I can drown in junk food.”

“No need to be dramatic Stiles.”

“Erica. I basically confessed my love to a man while having no memory what so ever. A love, I might add, that I was going to keep under wraps forever until I hit the grave.”

“I don’t know, I think it might be a good thing. The sexual tension between you two is so thick, I can practically crave a castle out of it for me to live in with it.”

“Ugh.” Stiles slumped down further into the couch. “How many times do I have to tell you and Lydia that there is no sexual tension between us. He loves Paige. He will always love Paige and I’m going to be forever single and alone mooning over a guy who already found and lost his true love.”

“But I didn’t lost my true love.”

Stiles whipped his head around to find Derek standing at the doorway. Erica, who stood next to Derek, looked sheepishly at Stiles. “Sorry. Like I said, sexual tension, castle.” Erica gestured towards the both of them. “Well, I’m going to go. Don’t do what I wouldn’t do.”

“That’s not a lot of things you wouldn’t do Erica!” Stiles yelled at her retreating figure out the door.

“That’s the point sugar-buns!” She yelled back with a wave.

Stiles stood in the middle of the living room, one hand clutching the ice-cream bowl while the other held the spoon now holding melting ice cream.

“I didn’t lose my true love.” Derek repeated.

“Yes you did.” Stiles answered softly. “Paige.”

“Paige wasn’t my true love. She was my first.” Derek dropped down to kneel in front of Stiles. Stiles dropped the items he was holding. “It wasn’t until I met you that I realized that maybe I could love again. After her.”

“But you still love her. You’re still mourning for her.”

“I do.” Derek nodded, looking down at the ring. “Me and her didn’t spend much of our lives together but what we did have, I will cherish forever. And I will never forget her. And I wore this ring so I wouldn’t forget her. ” Derek looked up to gaze at Stiles. “But I don’t need it anymore to remember.” Derek said, slipping the ring off his finger. Stiles watched in shock. He never saw Derek without the ring on him. Never. “I have her here.” Derek gestured to his head and then Derek grabbed one of Stiles’ free hands to place it on his chest. “She’s there. But you’re here.”

“Derek..”

“And after seeing you on that hospital bed, so much like Paige did that night, I didn’t want to lose my chance. I wanted you to know. How I felt.” Derek continued, tears forming in his eyes. “But you didn’t remember anything. You didn’t remember me.” The tears were softly traveling down his face. Stiles could feel that his face was also wet. “And then you said that I was your husband.” Derek gave out a broken laugh. “Husband. Somehow, even when you’ve forgotten everything, you manage to take my confession from me.” They both chuckle, silently dying out when Derek makes a grab for Stiles’ other hand. “I love you. My love for you is different from the one for her. If hers was like the ocean waves on a cool summer night, yours is like a fire warming up a home during the cold winter nights. I want to hold you tight and never let go. I want to fight with you for the tv remote. Bicker over what movies are better. Fight over who’s doing the laundry or making dinner. I want everything with you.”

“I want everything too.”

——-

That day a man woke up with no recollection of himself. Who he was. Where he was. How he got there. But at the end of the day, he found pieces of himself again, and better, he gained a person and a memory that he will cherish for all the days to come.


	7. a world hidden within a library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final and last request by dereks-batman on tumblr. 
> 
> 25\. librarian/avid reader au
> 
> Stiles goes into a library in search for a book, Derek is the librarian there. Nothing is quite as it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a long while to write, not just because I had this grand twist in this AU idea. I just had no idea to end it. As I was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for my mom to be done her surgery, I made up this ending.
> 
> I hope it's good and I'm happy to have finished one of my fics. The Sherlock one is next.

So Stiles, to his friends, is known to often research things to satisfy his weird topic of the day. Sometimes that topic of the day turns into the topic of the week since the things he researches often take him on a downward spiral on Wikipedia for days. So when they found him deep in several piles of books with titles like ’Circumcision: A History of The World’s Most Controversial Surgery’ when he was writing his economics paper; or ‘What Bird Did That; A driver’s guide to common birds in North America’ a few hours after Scott had absently asked that day what kind of bird would poop in that weird yellow-ish green-ish color; or the ‘Codex Seraphinianus’ back when Stiles was obsessed with codes and tried to decipher them with no luck, it wasn’t surprising to his friends when he went to the town’s only library to gather books on weird topics and disappear for days on end until his current obsessed topic had run its course.

What they did find strange is that this time he voluntarily wanted to stay at the library.

■ ■ ■ ■

So whenever Stiles went on his crazed-obsessive-research-binge, he never stayed at the library. Ever.

Why?

Because the library has ever had only one employee since the beginning of time.

Mrs. Umbraggé.

Mrs. Umbraggé can always be found sitting at her circular desk located in the middle of the library and never speak a word. Ever. Stiles had tried speaking to her when he was checking books out or spewed random words waiting for her to mutter to him a silent ‘quiet!’ but none of that happened. She just glared and Stiles always got a cold chill running down his spine.

He never tried to talk to her ever again after that.

If that wasn’t bad enough, she constantly has this look of annoyance on her face. It’s like she took her name and became the embodiment of the latin word as she sat on that highchair of hers, watching everyone who steps into the library doors as they travel through the aisles. Even when Stiles is certain that he’s well hidden behind the stacks, he could always feel her gaze on him and get that weird chill down his spine.

She’s like those crazy old ladies from those horror films that claw their way out of hell, except she’s an un-aging teenage-hating librarian from hell.

People would think that Stiles is lying when he talks about this ‘un-aging thing,’ but Stiles asked his father who swears that Mrs. Umbraggé hasn’t aged a day since he had first seen her ‘back in the day’. Stiles’ father, who is the Sheriff, as a child-teenager. The child-teenager’s childhood that he never ever talks about because he doesn’t want Stiles to get 'creative ideas’ from his prank-filled rebellious stage.

Like Stiles doesn’t already have an amazing imagination that can easily beat the so-called pranks that his father pulled when he was younger.

Please.

Though the deputies on the force has repeatedly told him that none of his pranks has reached his father’s level yet.

It’s only a matter of time. He’s only in freshmen year.

Anyway, back to the librarian. Stiles was in the library looking for the complete set of Grimm Brothers Tales after Allison, and therefore Scott, started talking about the storyline for ‘Once Upon a Time’ that creatively connected all the disney movies together like having Mulan fight in a war with Prince Phillip and together they rescued Aurora, or Rumpelstiltskin being the fairy godmother of Cinderella and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. Once Stiles began thinking about the stories created in the show and Disney’s portrayals of the stories, he began wondering how much they differed from the original story.

Not that different right?

Well, he didn’t know. So he began to research and since Beacon Hills Library is just overwhelming with weird resources, especially in the topic of the supernatural and mythical legends, weirdly enough, (like really? Are we seriously going to be that town with a supernatural obsession?) he decided to head there.

Going through the doors, not pausing to even look at the front desk, Stiles made his way to the section he knew would hold the Grimm Brothers volumes that lined up the bottom shelf of the ‘Fiction: A-G’ category. He kneeled down to get a closer look, scanning the titles with his eyes and got nothing. There was an empty space in the stack where the books should be.

He really didn’t want to talk to the creepy librarian so he went to the self-help computer to see if the book was not checked out and probably hiding somewhere. He doubted it was even checked out since he never seen another person in the library before. Mrs. Umbraggé tended to freak everyone out, but you never know.

Quickly clicking the keys, the computer flashed, ‘The item you are looking for is currently available.’

“Well that’s great.” Stiles muttered. “Can you at least tell me where the heck it is?” Stiles gestured to the inanimate monitor that continued to flash the message in large black letters.

“Why are you talking to a computer monitor?”

Stiles gave out a manly squeak as he spun around to face the mystery assailant, perhaps a creature from the same eternal fountain of youth as Mrs. Umbraggé. His surprise squeak (MANLY!) was cut off when his elbow hit the corner of the self-help desk. “FUCK.” He shouted, catching the glimpse of green and black before looking down at his elbow as if the body part betrayed him somehow. He slowly massaged it until the tingling feeling disappeared and looked up to find a man wearing a pinched expression judging from the angle of his very expressive eyebrows. Eyebrows attached to a...

‘A man.’ Stiles’ mind helpfully supplies. ‘A young man.’ It repeats.

Well, not young but certainly younger than the librarian.

“What are you doing here?” Stiles’ mouth blurted out as the thoughts of ‘young’, ‘hot’, ‘why is this my life’ was circling through his mind.

The man did a quick scan around the room and raised one of his eyebrows.“This is a public space.” The man replied, his face blank.

Stiles winced at the obvious answer.

“I meant, uh, who are you?”

“I’m the librarian.”

“Uhh. No you’re not. Unless Mrs. Umbraggé has somehow found a way to possess people, in which case, I wasn’t doing anything.”

“I’m new.” The man replied before pausing, his head tilted a bit to the side as if he was remembering something. “I guess.”

“Right. You’re saying that Mrs. Umbraggé, who has been a librarian here for over 40 years without hiring anyone at all. I know because I asked her to hire me several times over the years and she just gave me a glare of a lifetime. Kind of similar to the glare you’re giving me now actually. Are you related?”

“I'm... not sure. Her name sounds familiar though."

"What? Are you telling me that you got the job without meeting your employer?" Stiles demanded. He never liked Mrs. Umbraggé that much, but he adored the library and always wanted to work here. This guy with his muscles and his whatever just comes into town and steals the job that Stiles has been wanting since forever.

The man just shrugged his shoulders.

"So Mr. Librarian that isn't Mrs. Umbraggé, can you tell me where the Grimm Brother books are."

The librarian, no, dude, Stiles refused to call him by that title no matter what he says, rolled his eyes.

"Did you check the shelf?"

"Of course I did. Why do you think I'm searching on the computer? Because it's not there. Duh."

"Hmm." The guy hums, walking to the shelf that Stiles had just left. Stiles rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath following the man but when he reached the end of the aisle, the man had disappeared.

"What the hell?"

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Derek has always liked books. Whenever he felt alone, he would grab a book from the closest library and just get lost in the pages. So when he saw a posting for a librarian position, he didn't hesitate.

Derek loves his job as a librarian. He gets to work in a place of quiet and he could read as many books as he wants. It's the dream.

Or a dream come true.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"I'm telling you Lydia, this guy just disappears into thin air!"

"You probably dreamed him up, judging from the description you gave me about his Greek body and muscles to match.” Lydia paused. “Is that why you’ve been spending so much time in the library these days?"

"I knew I should never have told you about my newly found attraction to guys. And how do you know I’ve been spending so much time at the library?"

"Like you could ever hide that from me. I knew before you." Lydia inspected her nails, already bored from the conversation. “And I knew about the library because you told me.”

"Yeah. You dragged me off to Jungle and had a hot guy grind on me." Stiles rolled his eyes. “And no I didn’t.”

Lydia gave Stiles a look. Stiles rolled his eyes once more before giving her a dramatic bow.

"And I thank you for letting me discover my sexuality all on my own and introducing me to Danny."

"You're welcome."

"But seriously Lyds. I was walking right behind him and was only distracted for a sec-”

“Looking at his ass.”

“Right. I mean no- I mean, shut up.” Lydia raised an eyebrow at his tone. “Anyway I blinked and the guy just disappeared."

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Let's research!"

"No thanks."

"Fine. I'll enjoy this scientific discovery on my own."

"He's not a mutant Stiles."

"Don't kill my dreams Lyds."

Lydia turns to him, looking him dead in the eye. "Wolverine isn't real."

Stiles quickly covers his ears. "Lalalalala. Not listening."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Stiles was heading back to the library when he sees the young disappearing act librarian sitting at one of the study tables.

"Hey dude. Where did you run off to last time?"

"Don't call me dude." The librarian growled out.

"Well, mister growly sir, I can't exactly call you anything else since I don't know your name." Stiles said, narrowing his eyes at the man. "Which is weird because I know everyone in this town, even the criminals after I got into my dad's files." Stiles’ eyes widen when he realized what he accidently confessed. "Uh, pretend you didn't hear that."

"How are you not in jail?"

"It pays to be the son of a Sheriff."

"What an evil mastermind."

Stiles grinned at the man’s exasperated tone. It reminded him of his dad every time he got a call from the principal about his pranks.

"Thank you."

"That wasn't meant be a compliment."

"I know dude."

"Don't call me dude."

Stiles unsuccessfully raised one eyebrow at him. The librarian sighed.

"It's Derek."

"What?"

"My name."

"Oh."

"What?" Derek growled.

Stiles threw up his arms in front of him. "Nothing. You just seem more like a.. Miguel to me."

"Miguel? Really?"

"Hey!"

"I don't look like a Miguel."

"Have you ever met a Miguel?"

"...No."

"Then how would you know you don't look like a Miguel?"

"Have you met a Miguel?"

"Well... no."

"So shut up."

“Sooo.. where did you disappear of to?”

“What?”

“Disappear. Last time. Here. In this library.”

“Look. I don’t know you.”

“Yes you do. I was looking for Brother Grimm books, you were going to direct me to their location when poof! You disappeared.”

“I don’t - I don’t know wh-”

And the man disappeared into thin air in front of him.

Stiles continued to stare at the empty space that used to be occupied by a grown ass man. After blinking a few times and licking his lips, he brought his hands together to make a loud thundering clap.

“I freakin’ knew it! IN YOUR FACE LYDIA."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“Let me repeat this so you could understand it. What you're saying is that you met this greek god librarian again and instead of disappearing in some dark corner of that small library, he disappeared in front of you? And before he disappeared he didn’t remember about the conversation you had yesterday or who you were.”

“YES! Exactly! I'm not making this up!”

“Do you have proof?”

“What?”

“Proof. Pictures. Video. Anything?” Lydia emphasized with a wave of her newly pedicured hand.

“No. B-”

“Then you can’t prove anything. You know how it goes Stiles. Scientific inquiry isn’t just written about on spouted stories, they’re based on facts filled with diagrams and experimentation.”

“Fine. I’ll grab my proof and I’ll show you!”

“You go do that.”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“Derek.”

Derek looked up from where he was absently staring at his soggy bowl of cereal that’s been sitting untouched for the past 10 minutes.

“Erica.”

“What’s with your grumpy face.” Erica teased. “You missing someone Der?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

Derek frowned.

“I...I can’t remember.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that I can’t remem-”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“Who are you?” Derek asked, glaring at the teenager who started talking to him about time travel and amnesia. He rolled his eyes as he organized the stack of books ready to be placed back on the shelves.

“Stiles. Dude. We’ve met. Right here in this room. This is the third time already.”

“Don’t call me dude.”

“Yeah. You keep telling me that and I keep ignoring you.” Stiles quickly said, trying to swipe that topic of conversation away to get Derek back on track. “So you’re saying you can’t remember me or anything that happened yesterday or the day before that?”

“No.”

“What can you remember?”

"Stacking books. Talking to Erica. Drinking horrible coffee."

"Erica? Weird. I know an Erica. Erica Reyes?"

"Yeah." Derek nodded. "You go to school with her?"

"Yup! And I'm the one that set her and Boyd up. She's the Catwoman to my Batman." Stiles chuckled. "How do you know her?"

Derek nods. Erica was the one who convinced him to take Boyd into the pack. It makes sense that the two are dating. They have always been close.

"Family." Derek replied.

"Oh. Weird. She never mentioned you before."

"I imagine she wouldn't." Derek frowned. Erica had taken upon herself to embarrass Derek to the extreme by using nicknames. Der-bear. The D. Frowny face. Never his actual name.

It's annoying, but he secretly loves it. It reminds him of Laura.

"Why? Are you her dirty little secret?"

Derek rolled his eyes. They had better secrets to hide than him after all. Though he is large part of it.

"No."

"You're not really giving me anything to work with here."

"Good." Derek replied, just wanting the boy to just leave him alone with his books.

"Dude."

"Don't call me dude."

"Oh god. We had this conversation already!" Stiles threw his hands up before slumping in his seat. He sat there for a few moments before rushing back into action, grabbing a notebook from his bag. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do." Stiles' hand dug around for a pen. "I'm going to write down the dates and what happened in each and every one of our meetings. You will write something that only you will know so that when I show it to you. You'll believe what I'm saying."

"Why should I?"

"Don't you want to know why you're having memory loss? Gaps in your memory?"

Derek looked at the teen who just stared back at him with that shine in his eyes. It is a little troubling that he hasn't been able to remember anything, but he could always go to Deaton if the worst comes to worst. The boy continued to stare at him without any hint of hesitation, he isn't going to back down anytime soon.

"Fine." Derek resigned. "And why would you help me?"

"Because you seem nice even though you growl at me all the time." Stiles smiled. "Also I'm super bored so this would give me something to do."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Every time Stiles saw Derek, they would write in the notebook and Derek would write something simple inside to prove the next day that Stiles isn't some weirdo.

‘Stiles is always here. In the library. When does he leave?! Also yes, you know him. And yes, he made you write that down.’

‘Erica is horrible at cooking. Don’t let her in the kitchen.’

‘Isaac has a lot of scarves.’

‘Boyd’s sister loved to figure skate.’

L was a prankster.’

‘Cora is getting into her boy band phase. Remember to tease her about it. And buy her tickets to the next 5sos concert.’

‘Stiles is a bit weird but he’s interesting.’

‘Stiles told me about the Grimm Brothers tales. Apparently the book is still lost in the library but he researched online and it’s pretty interesting.’

‘Stiles told me stories about his pranks and how he’s trying to get one over his dad, the Sheriff. I’m not sure what he’s planning next but I’m sure it’s illegal.’

"What the heck is this?" Stiles asked. Derek looked at whatever the teen shoved in his face. It was notebook with a note he had written a few days before.

"What of it?"

"You can't just write 'annoying boy teen who won't leave you alone. Ever' on here. That would make you hate me."

"But it's something I would know every time I meet you."

"That's just hurtful. And here I thought we were getting along."

"You can say that, but I barely remember who you are."

“Not cool. Ganging up on me with your amnesia.”

“I can’t gang up on you with amnesia. Amnesia can’t even gang up.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“You don’t make sense.”

It’s like whenever Derek was interacting with Stiles, he reverts back to a 5 year old.

Derek rolls his eyes, exasperated at the teen. He looks down at the latest entry.

‘Stiles is at the library. Apparently he’s been coming to the library everyday to find me. Not stalkerish at all. He says that the times I’m actually in the library is inconsistent. I think he has a schedule written somewhere. And when I’m not here, the library is closed. He breaks in just to check I’m not ‘dying or bleeding out on the floor or in need of assistance to chop off an arm or something,’ his words not mine. Strange kid. Smart. Weird that I remember everything about Erica, Boyd, Isaac and L but nothing about Stiles. And if you’re reading this Stiles, stop breaking into the library. Or I’ll send a note to your dad.’

‘No you won’t.’

‘I WILL.’

And the argument kept going, spilling across to the other pages, some hidden in the margins and others were written in different colors above previous notes. After the first couple of entries Stiles got bored waiting around and began replying to the notes that Derek had written. Now the notebook was filled with their exchanges of stories. From Stiles, stories about Scott and the pranks he pulled, Lydia the goddess and his dad. From Derek, stories of L, of the fire and the woods that surrounded his childhood home.

“Stiles.”

“What ol’ buddy of mine.”

“Stop that.” Derek swats him. “Why don’t we try this.”

“Try what?”

“Notes.”

“What about notes?”

“Leave a note for myself.”

“Isn’t that a note.” Stiles points to the notebook.

“No. A note to take with me so that when I ‘disappear,’ I’ll have something to remind myself what happened.”

“That’s a good idea. Even if you don’t believe me about the disappearing thing. Why is no one believing me about the disappearing thing?”

“Because people don’t disappear?”

“Just wait. I’m going to record this and you’re going to owe me some curly fries.”

“If this works, I’ll buy you all the curly fries you want.”

“Deal.”

\--

"Okay. So you got your note."

"Yes."

"And you have it on your person."

"Yes." Derek replies with an exasperating tone. Stiles had checked his note on his person five times in the past hour. It’s steadily getting annoying.

"Because we have no idea when you're gonna disappear and if you could even bring paper back to wherever you're heading off to."

"It'll work."

"It should. Or... We could write a small note on your arm with a pen! In case the paper just disintegrates."

"This isn't Terminator."

"Of course not, because you're not a robot." Stiles pauses. "Maybe... But still! Message on arm thing is a good idea!"

"Fine."

"I'll do it!" Stiles shouted, his right arm shooting in the air. Derek rolled his eyes.

"Why can't I write the message? It's my arm."

"You already got a note for yourself. This is from me." Stiles said, grabbing a pen from his Jean pocket. "And it'll be something super embarrassing, so don't read it in front of me." Stiles added as he began writing. "I mean it." Stiles repeated.

Derek rolled his eyes at Stiles' fierce look. He turned his head to stare absently at the bookshelves as he felt the tip of the pen moving across his skin.

"Done."

Derek turned his head back and gazed at his arm. There was only two words there.

Remember me.

"I know you think I'm annoying and that you don't think of me as a friend after all this time we spent together and you forgot half of it, but I had fun hanging out with you and I really want you to remember me. After. When you get all of this." Stiles gestured to Derek's everything. "This. Sorted out."

"Stiles. You have done for me than any sane person would do. I would definitely try my hardest to remember everything about you."

"That better be a promise."

Derek grinned.

"I will. And I'll be back."

Just as the last words were spoken, Derek disappeared once more.

"...He totally planned that one."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Derek’s arm reaches out to hit the snooze button to stop the alarm. Rolling off the sheets, he sits on his mattress and slowly blinks out the sleep. That’s when he noticed it, two words written on his forearm.

‘Remember me.’

The message sounded vaguely familiar, and as he was trying to grasp at the blurred image of a boy. A teen. Energetic and never shut up.

Stiles.

“Stiles.”

“What?”

Derek turned to see Erica peeking into the doorway.

“Stiles.”

“What’s a stiles?”

“Who I’ve been forgetting! Stiles!”

“...Okay. Are you sure this isn’t a dream Der? Because you’ve been sleeping a solid 10 hours before you shouted the boy’s name like he was a hand wrapped gift from internet porn.”

“Call Deaton.”

“Because he sent you the porn?” Derek frowned at her. “Fine. Fine grumpy pants. I’ll call him.”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“What’s happening?”

“Is it because of the witch we chased out a few days ago? Is she pissed that I lost her black cat?” Erica grumbled. “Because I don't regret it. That cat was a menace.”

“From what you described to me it’s very similar to a spell that was created to mimic the abilities of a Djinn.” Deaton spoke as if Erica hadn’t.

“What’s a Djinn?” Isaac asked.

“It’s a creature with the ability to create hallucinations of your deepest desires. The victim, in this case Derek, will be presented with a fictional world or entering a type of dream world that reflects his deepest desire and once there, he will want to remain there. Unlike Djinns, this spell has less of a grip on the victim. The fictional plane is indeed created by the victim and only enters it when you go to sleep. Since it’s only happening in your dreams, your memory tends to fade once you wake up. As the spell and dream gets stronger, the more memory you retain and the more you desire to stay in that fictional world over time.”

“But what about Stiles?”

“What about him?”

“Are you telling me he’s not real?”

“I’m sorry to say Derek, but he’s just a figment of your imagination.”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"Derek. Why are you ignoring me?"

"Because you're not real."

"What are you talking about?"

"Stiles."

"No. Derek. Talk to me. Don't tell me this is one of your... One of your weird symptoms!"

"You're not real. I'm not here. This isn't real."

"Derek!"

"No Stiles. It's time for me to wake up."

"No! Derek! Wai-"

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“Der.”

Derek turns to look at Erica, who’s frowning at him. It reminds him of Laura whenever she wanted him to leave the house and socialize like a normal person.

“What.”

“You can’t be still upset about this Stiles.” Derek ignored her and continued to stare at nothing. “Oh my gosh.” Erica flopped down to sit next to him on the couch. “You are!”

Erica paused. “Are you upset that he’s something that you imagined or that you thought he was real?”

“...Both I guess. It was all so real..”

“That’s what Djinns do. They pull you into a life that you’ve always wanted.”

“But why would a life of being a librarian that had amnesia and only met one boy be my dream life?”

Erica shrugged and gave Derek a solid pat in the back. If he wasn’t a werewolf, it would have cracked something. “I don’t know Der. You’re a weird one.”

“What I don’t get is that he had this life story of being the sheriff’s son, his 10 year crush on some girl named Lydia Martin and his best friend being this Scott person.”

“Wait. Lydia Martin. She’s that queen bitch who thinks she’s better than everyone, and Scott… isn’t he the one with asthma?”

“The who?”

“Scott McCall, the one with asthma.”

“...Yeah. Stiles mentioned that Scott used to have asthma. It cleared up when they entered high school.”

“...This is too weird to be a coincidence. You don’t even know these people…” Erica paused, thinking it over in her head. She looked over at Derek with wide eyes. “Maybe he is real.”

“We all agreed it was something the Djinn made up.”

“The Djinn makes up some fake world from your memories and your wants. Why would you know anything about these high schoolers? And like you said, why would he insert them into your dream world if you don’t care about them at all?”

Now it was Derek’s turn to pause. Erica raised a good point there. Why would Derek be placed in a fantasy world that didn’t have Laura and the rest of his family there. Alive. Happy. Instead of being stuck alone in a library with a kid that seemed to have ADHD.

“So what do we do?”

“Find out if the kid is real. If so, call Deaton.”

“So research.”

“Yup! And that’s where I get up and leave you to it.”

“You’re not going to help?”

“Der. The day that I voluntary do work is a day that will never happen. Ever.” Erica emphasized. “So good luck finding your boy toy.”

“...he’s not my boy toy.” Derek grumbled, hearing Erica’s high pitched laughter behind the closed door.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“So I’ve talked to Scott. You’re welcome.” Erica announced as she stepped into the den. Plopping down onto the sofa, she continued. “And he told me about a childhood friend whose father is Sheriff Stilinski, who is by the way such a DILF. I would totally -”

“Erica.”

“Fine.” Erica huffed before continuing. “The kid went missing around the time his mother passed away from cancer and get this.” Erica paused for dramatic effect. “The kid was nicknamed Stiles. He apparently had this super long ass name that no one could properly pronounce except the Queen Biatch, which is when the great crush began. Or so Scott says.” Erica leaned back until her head rested on the back of the sofa. “How weird is that everything you knew about Stiles is actually true?”

“...Too weird.”

“Let’s face it. The man of your dreams is alive and kicking.”

The two of them sat in silence.

“...So I guess this means another trip to the vet?”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“So we know that Stiles is real and my ‘dreams’ aren’t dreams. So what are they exactly?”

“Well, if what you and Erica have told me is correct and the boy went missing about 5-6 years ago, I think I know what might have happened.”

“What happened?” Erica asked.

“Around that time, Talia came to me with a book. She told me a friend of hers gave it to her for safe keeping. She wanted me to cast a spell on it to keep it from harm. In case something happened.”

“And something happened.” Erica whispered.

“Yes. The fire.” Deaton nodded.

“So what does this book have to do with Stiles?”

“There’s whispers that powerful beings with magic could place themselves in the form of objects in order to create a pocket universe that would allow them to develop new spells, or theories.”

“You’re telling me that Stiles is some kind of wizard.”

“No. He's a spark. His mother was the same.”

“How are we going to get him out of there?”

“It seems that this ‘Stiles,’ after living in that place for far too long have emerged himself in it, has forgotten the real world. You have to wake him up.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“By reminding him what made him leave in the first place.”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The next time Derek reappeared into what Deaton had thoroughly explained to be the world re-imagined by Stiles, he saw that the boy was sitting unimaginatally still at one of the tables. It was so unlike the Stiles who was constantly moving since Derek had known him and it freaked him out a little. Especially with what he's going to have to do with a teenager that might have a lot of magic hidden inside him.

“Stiles?”

The boy turned slowly, the expression on his face falling as he realized who was behind him.

“Oh. It’s just you.”

“Stiles.” Derek started. “The thing that happened last time. I didn’t mean that.”

“You didn’t mean it. Right. You didn’t mean to say I wasn’t real and just disa- Wait a minute. WAIT A FREAKIN’ MINUTE. YOU REMEMBER?!”

“...um.. “ Derek stared at the teen in shock. “Yes.”

“How?!”

“I focused and made sure that I did. After you wrote that note on my arm, and remembered you, it was easier to remember what went on here.”

“...So it worked?”

“Yes Stiles. It worked.”

“I’m glad… though that doesn’t forgive you for what you said to me before.” Stiles said sternly, a finger pointed at Derek’s chest.

“And I don’t expect that. I just came to tell you something I found out.”

“And what would that be? That you’re an asshole and possibly a mutant?”

“I’m not a mutant. You’re magic.”

“I’m what?!”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

After what felt like a year, Derek finally explained everything that Deaton told him to Stiles.

“So you’re telling me that I trapped myself in a fictional world inside a book for 5 years, the same book you’ve been sleeping next to because smells of your family, and somehow I dragged you into this imaginary world because what? I’m bored? I needed a booty call?!”

“Stiles. Take this seriously.”

“I am taking this seriously. Can’t you feel all the seriousness that’s going on? I can feel it. Don’t you feel it?”

“No.”

“Maybe I should just magic it up. Like I always do apparently.”

“Stiles.”

“No. You don’t just barge into my life and then reenact a Harry Potter event to me that basically ruins my entire perception of life.”

“..I’m sorry.”

Stiles sighs. “Don’t be. It actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah.” Stiles brings up a hand to start counting down the reasons. “One. I never could remember specific things like what I ate this morning or what videogame I played with Scott recently. Two. I’m best friends with Lydia Martin. That should have been a sign right there. She hated my guts before, why would she hang out with me now? And three, Scott was cured by getting bitten by a werewolf. That should have been my wake up call, but it was so exciting. I should have known werewolves don’t exist.”

“...”

“..They don’t right. Not in the ‘real’ world.”

“...”

“Fuck my life.”

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

“So how are we going to do this, this ‘wake me up’ scenario?”

“Well, we have to find something that would trigger your memory of when you first created this place. And since we’ve only met in the library, Deaton figures the foundation must be centralized here.” Derek gestured to the stacks.

“So we’re going to search through all of these shelves?”

“Unless you have a better idea?”

“Nope.” Stiles sighs. "So should we start from the left to the right?"

Derek paused, taking a quick look around the library. "How about we look at the place where we first met. It must have been important since you drew me there."

"Okay. Makes sense." Stiles replied, making a quick jog over to the Fiction section. "Well I already searched the A-G section so I guess we'll move to the other one?"

Derek made an affirmative noise, slowly following behind the teen.

As Stules moved to the nearby shelf, Stiles' eyes catch a title, Libro Vitae. It's his mother's favorite book. Grabbing the book from the shelf, he flipped the book open to find familiar scribbles of his mother's handwriting and drawings in the margins.

"Wait, this is my mother's." Stiles turned to Derek. "Why is my mom's book here?"

"I don't know Stiles. Maybe you’re the one that put it there?"

"No... I-"

Two women sat on the front porch steps at a house surrounded by trees and earth. One woman, her warm hazel eyes that seemed to gleam in the moonlight held a book in one hand. The other woman peered at the book curiously.  

"Take good care of this for me Talia."

"Of course I will Claudia." The other woman answered, taking the book glently from the first. "But I have to ask, what is this?"

"The most important book of my life and the key to everything." The woman replied, smiling softly at the book.

"So why leave this in my care?"

"Because my time is coming and he knows this. When it's his time, he will return."

"Who will return?"

"My son."

"Stiles?"

"Sorry. I think I just had some kind of weird vision or something."

"What was it?"

"It was my mom giving Talia Hale this book."

“Your mom gave my mom this book?”

“Wait. Your mom is Talia Hale? WAIT. YOU’RE DEREK HALE?’

“...What do you know about me?”

“Laura talks about you all the time. And Cora! They talk about the times they pranked you and those times that you failed miserably on dates. Like that one time you-”

“Stop with that story. How do you even know that story?!” Derek demanded. “That’s not the point. Laura’s here?”

“Yeah.”

“And she’s alive?”

“Of course she’s alive. Why wouldn’t she be… oh no. She’s dead isn’t she?” Stiles continued when he saw Derek looking away. “It was the fire wasn’t it?"

"How do you know about the fire?"

"Of course I know about the fire. It's what everyone ever talked about for years. You know Beacon Hills. Not much happens here. Well. Besides the werewolves, the witches and the other supernatural beings that probably aren't real."

"... How did they survive?"

"My mom was over at their house and when she didn't call my dad, he got their right in time to get everyone out." Stiles froze. "Wait. Why isn't Laura alive? Wasn't my mom there?"

"Stiles... I have to tell you so-"

"No. My mom." Stiles breathing got more harsher. "My mom got better." Stiles repeated. "She got better."

"Stiles. She passed away a month before the fire."

"No!" Stiles fell to the floor. "She can't be. She can't." He cried, tears running down his cheeks.

"Stiles. Breathe and listen to my voice okay?"

Stiles nods, trying to slow his intake of air.

"Your mom died peacefully at the hospital with you by her side."

Stiles shook his head, trying to shake away the reality being told to him.

"It's hard to let go. I know it is. I haven't been able to let go since the fire happened. I haven't been able to let go of this guilt. This guilt that has been eating me alive because of a choice I had. A choice that I decided to make despite everything that I was told. But if someone like me, as bad as I am, could learn to eventually let go of the guilt that has weighed me down for so long and accept everything that has happened. You can to."

Stiles listened to Derek confession and the years he shed were no longer just for his past, but also for Derek's.

"I know you Derek." Stiles spoke once he got his breathing under control. And I wouldn't have magic-ed you in here if you were as bad as you say." Stiles paused to quickly wipe away the tears that was affecting his vision. "But I don't think I can do this. I don't think I can let this go. Let her go."

"Stiles." Derek lightly touched the teen's shoulder. "When was the last time you've seen you mother in this world of yours?"

"Last night? Maybe in the morning? She's busy at work."

"Do you remember what she looks like? What her voice sounds like? Her own unique smell?"

"I...I-"

"Do you remember the way she smiled? The way she laughed. The last time you spent the day together?"

"I... I can't." Stiles cried.

"Stiles. She wouldn't want you to live like this. It's time to let her go. Let her rest. To live your life."

"It's just so hard."

"She'll want you to. It's time."

"Time for me to go back."

"To your dad. To Scott. To the two people who have been waiting for you to get back to them for years."

“My dad… I can’t believe I left my dad behind.”

“He’ll understand.”

Derek reached out his hand.

“Take my hand. Close your eyes and think of him. Think of her. Think of what she would have wanted.”

“To go home.”

  
  



End file.
